Champion fundraiser goes to No 10

A boy who has posted 400 parcels to British troops in Afghanistan and Iraq met the Prime Minister before receiving an honour from Prince Harry.

Keaton Peppiatt, 10, from Bexhill, East Sussex, has won the Young Fundraiser title in the Woman's Own Children of Courage awards.

He fills boxes with sweets, crisps and toiletries which Army chaplains then pass on to soldiers in the Middle East.

He recently sent 50 special boxes filled with individual Christmas cakes.

"I started when my mum saw an ad in a lift to send boxes and thought it would be a good idea," he said.

"Then I packed two or three boxes and sent them off. I've reached 400 now."

'Heart-warming event'

Keaton devotes much of his spare time to fundraising and has persuaded local shop owners to donate items and run a school fete stall.

His mother Kim, 42, a hairdresser, and her husband Lyntton, 46, a printer, are attending the presentation ceremony at Westminster Abbey.

Stars also invited include pop group Girls Aloud, TV comic Catherine Tate and Strictly Come Dancing's Len Goodman, Arlene Phillips, Craig Revel Horwood and Tom Chambers.

"This is one of the country's most heart-warming events and through the years it has been a real privilege to meet these children and their families," said Woman's Own editor Karen Livermore.

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